It’s always frustrating to lose in a playoff in a local qualifier for the last guaranteed spot in a USGA Championship. But if often leaves you as the first alternate, the most tantalizing position in golf, waiting for the call, or, I imagine, an e-mail these days, that tells you you’re in.
At some point since Merion Golf Club’s Loraine Jones lost in a playoff to Stephenie Harris of Lookaway Golf Club for the final spot in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier last month at Radnor Valley Country Club, Jones got the call. She was no longer an alternate, she was in.
And it looks like Jones, a senior amateur “rookie,” having turned 50 this year, plans to make the most of her second chance. Jones put herself in position to make it into the match-play bracket with a 4-over-par 76 at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala. in the opening round of qualifying for match play in the 59th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship Friday.
That left Jones in a tie for 16th place. The second round of qualifying will be held Saturday with the top 64 finishers advancing to match play, which gets under way Sunday.
Jones has been a good player since she starred at Haverford High as Loraine Connolly. She grew up in the section of Haverford Township where Merion’s famed East Course was literally in her backyard, so maybe Merion was always where she was headed.
I got a chance to chat with Jones a couple of springs ago when her daughter Lauren was competing with Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Ac League Championship at French Creek Golf Club. Lauren Jones was a runnerup two years ago and finally nailed down an Inter-Ac individual crown in the spring of this year, again at French Creek. Lauren Jones is about to embark on her college career at Richmond.
Loraine Jones, a fixture on Merion’s perennially strong Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Inter-Club Team Matches entry, got off to a good start Friday with a birdie at the fourth hole. She struggled a little for the rest of the outgoing nine at Lakewood, making a bogey at the fifth hole, a double bogey at seven and a bogey at nine.
Jones righted the ship with a birdie at the 10th hole, but gave that shot right back with a bogey at 11. Jones, however, made pars on six of the last seven holes, a bogey at 15 the only stumble, on her way to the clubhouse to get it in a 4-over.
At the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of qualifying, to the surprise of very few observers of the Alabama women’s amateur scene, was Kathy Hartwiger of Birmingham, Ala.
Hartwiger owns a record 20 Alabama Golf Association titles, including 10 State Women’s Amateur crowns. Hartwiger came roaring out of the gate at Lakewood, blitzing the outgoing nine with birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and seventh holes to get it to 4-under for her round.
Hartwiger cooled off a little with bogeys at the 10th and 15th holes before recording her fifth birdie of the day at 17 to finish with a sparkling 3-under 69.
That gave Hartwiger a one-shot lead over Amy Ellertson of Free Union, Va. as Ellertson carded a solid 2-under 70.
Lurking at even-par 72 in a tie for fifth place was Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore., the winner of the last two U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championships that were contested, in 2019 at Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and in 2018 at the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla.
In the lost pandemic year of 2020, there was no U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur played, so I’m sure just the opportunity to get out and compete against some old friends and rivals was much appreciated.
Another shot behind Tennant in a tie for seventh place at 1-over 73 was Ellen Port of St. Louis, Mo, owner of seven USGA championships, three U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur crowns and four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles. You think she’s any good at match play?
Tennant isn’t the only seven-time USGA champion in the field as World Golf Hall of Famer Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickly, winner of four U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs, two U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and the 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur, joined the party for the first time since 2014 and, at 72, registered a solid 70 that left her in the group tied for 40th place. Legend somehow comes up short when you start talking about Thompson’s golf life.
Alexandra Frazier, the medalist in the GAP-administered qualifier at Radnor Valley, also put herself in position to earn a spot in the match-play bracket with a 78 that left her among the group tied for 31st place.
The 63-year-old Frazier lists North Palm Beach, Fla. as her home, but has played out of Gulph Mills Golf Club for years. She had a steady round that was highlighted by a birdie at the seventh hole. She had seven bogeys, but nothing worse than that.
Also in the group along with Thompson tied for 40th place with a 79 was Lisa McGill of Philadelphia and Sunnybrook Golf Club. McGill has had some recent success in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, reaching the quarterfinals in 2017 at Waverly Golf Club in Portland, Ore. and advancing to the round of 16 in 2018 at Orchid Island. McGill was the runnerup to Frazier in the qualifier at Radnor Valley.
Suzi Spotleson of Canton, Ohio was in the group tied for 58th place as she signed for an 81. Spotleson plays out of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Perserve and has a WGAP Match Play Championship crown on her resume. Spotleson reached the second round of match play before falling two years ago in Cedar Rapids.
Amy Kennedy, one of the top amateur players on the York, Harrisburg, Lancaster scene, posted an 82 and was in the group tied for 66th place.
The two other players who emerged out of the GAP-administered qualifier at Radnor Valley, Angie Whitley Coleman of Wilmington Country Club and Lookaway’s Harris, have some work to do in Saturday’s second round to book a date in match play.
Whitley registered an 83 and landed in the group tied for 79th place while Harris, who had defeated Loraine Jones in the playoff at Radnor Valley, signed for an 86 and was in the group tied for 102nd place.
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